Our LO was initially on Good Start Gentle but did not tolerate it well at all. She was then switched over to soy but after 4 to 5 days she continued to have even worse problems than she did on the GS Gentle. At that point, they put her on Nutramigen but after 2 to 3 days of not eating, totally spewing out everything she drank, no wet diapers, etc., we put her back on the soy and she is doing pretty well with it.

We have a checkup scheduled for Tues. and we'll be addressing the formula issues once again.

Has anyone ever had trouble with the Nutramigen? I really don't like the idea of her being on soy and was really surprised that she could not tolerate the Nutramigen. I don't think she has a true milk allergy or intolerance, but maybe her system just couldn't handle the milk proteins as of yet?

My son couldn't handle Nutramigen. He seemed fine on it for a while (started supplementing at 2 months, was on all formula at 3 months). He gained a bit and did better, but not great. Then he got non-stop diarrhea for 2 weeks (at 5 months). We switched to Neocate and the diarrhea was gone that day!

Since the switch (and keeping him gluten free), he has gained consistently (slowly, but consistently) and just done great. He was weaned off of reflux meds by his 9 month visit and was a whole new, happy baby. Before the switch, we were doing weekly to bi-weekly weight checks. He dropped off the weight chart from under 2 months old up until 9 months old. And he was just downright miserable. Our pediatrician didn't even mention soy formula since a lot of babies that can't tolerate milk proteins also can't do soy.

We've done a couple dairy trials that have failed miserably. He just ends up miserable...crying almost non-stop for days (nights included), having NASTY diapers, and the reflux usually comes back. He also gets a fever! Very strange, but both times we've done an actual dairy trial, he ends up with a fever and cold symptoms. This time, he even managed to get an ear infection (which I then researched and found that food allergies and ear infections may be linked). The first time we found it odd, but chalked it up to a cold. But a second time? That would be one huuuuge coincidence.

Anyway though, aside from Nutramigen, there is Alimentum. Some babies can handle one better than the other, though they are equivalent in terms of milk protein content. The next step would be an amino acid based formula (aka elemental), like Neocate or Elecare. They contain no dairy or soy proteins. There is a soy ingredient (can't think of the name right off hand) that is supposed to not cause issues for even the soy allergic/intolerant. Neocate addresses that in their FAQ, I believe. If you don't want her on soy formula, you could do some research on the elemental ones and ask for a prescription for one of those. Just beware, they are expensive! Some insurances will cover it though, as will WIC (must have the prescription/form filled out by doctor).

On a side note, with the formula changes, keep in mind that dairy can take 2-3 weeks to be out of the system completely, so try to give plenty of time for her tummy to adjust to anything new.

DD couldn't tolerate similac sensitive, gentleease, nutramigen, alimentum, or alimentum ready to feed. She was even reacting to something in my milk and I'm soy, dairy, gluten, peanut, and egg white free due to my own allergies.

She's on EleCare now and doing much better so that's an option. We didn't even bother trying soy, she was just not doing good on the others. IEHP approved the EleCare prescription too despite having not tried soy for us as well, but she had actually dropped a lot of her feeds and so that was a big part of it.

Oh, I should add we have to thicken her formula some. If we don't she has really bad silent reflux episodes and will drop feeds again. Hope you find a solution soon, it's hard.

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Happy Wife and Mom to a crazy hyper boy born 7-11-09! and a wonderful daughter born 5-3-12

He was on soy for a little bit before we went to Nutramigen and Alimentum, and developed a soy allergy. There are a lot of reasons to stay far away from soy-based formula. I'm sure you can google and make a decision for yourself.

We also went to Elecare and he did awesome. At age 3, we switched to Peptamin Jr, which he has done great on as well. Elecare doesn't have any proteins in it. It is completely amino-acid based, and you can live your entire life on it. We only switched because Peptamin Jr. comes in ready to feed, which is easier to deal with in the quantities needed for a 3 year old.

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Kristen
Middle school teacher by day, super mom by night
Mommy to The Boss~2007, The Energizer Bunny~2009, and The Princess~2011
My kids are no longer in diapers, but somehow, my computer keeps finding its way back here...